US Pressures UN on Montagnard Repatriation

US pressure is mounting on Cambodia, Vietnam and the UN to restart a Montagnard repatriation plan that derailed last weekend, with members of US Con­gress continuing to push hard for the possible resettlement of some asylum seekers now faced with being returned to Vietnam.

US officials have raised questions about the way the repatriation agreement signed Jan 21 by all three parties is being implemented, senior US congressmen Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos wrote in a letter to UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers.

“It is unclear whether ‘counseling’ of refugees or asylum seekers includes accurate information about the possibility of resettlement in a country other than Vietnam,” the congressmen wrote. “In the absence of full and truthful information about the resettlement option, none of the refugees or asylum seekers can give informed consent to repatriation, and it is likely that many will be misled into believing that they have no choice other than to repatriate.”

US Ambassador Kent Wiede­mann said resettlement has al­ways remained an option for asylum seekers who qualify for it. At least 38 Montagnards were resettled in the US last year, infuriating the Vietnamese.

But Wiedemann said the US also supports repatriation, “assu­ming it is done in accordance with the agreement. It must be voluntary and we can see that things are not going very smoothly right now.”

Fifteen Montagnards voluntarily left Cambodia last week for their homes in Vietnam’s Central Highlands in the first round of repatriations under the Jan 21 agreement.

But the plan broke down soon afterward. Vietnam lashed out at the UNHCR for not returning more Montagnards.

On Friday, a joint Cambodian-Vietnamese delegation, including a high-level Vietnamese police official and National Police Director-General Hok Lundy, entered the UNHCR’s Mondol­kiri camp and told Montagnards they would be sent back to Vietnam, police officials said.

During the ensuing dispute, several asylum seekers were beaten with electric batons, ac­cording to the UNHCR.

The UNHCR has since suspended the repatriation process, drawing heavy fire from Vietnam.

“This is a regrettable and un­founded decision which does not conform to the real situation,” the official Vietnamese army newspaper Quan Doi Nhan said.

It urged the UNHCR to “act in an independent manner” and “not allow itself to be influenced by outside pressure.”

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said Vietnam was “ready to hold discussions with the UNHCR and Cambodia to find concrete and efficient ways to do away with obstacles blocking the implementation of the tripartite accord.”

Wiedemann said he is also having emergency discussions with senior Cambodian officials, who are being “responsive.”

“We are trying to impress upon Cambodia that in this case they have an obligation with respect to the [1951 Convention on Refu­gees],” the ambassador said.

Cambodian officials at least are saying they believe the repatriation must be voluntary and that no one will be forced back, Wiedemann said.

But Cambodian and Vietna­mese authorities have also said all the Montagnards need to be returned by April 30.

“Setting an arbitrary date on return would violate the core principle that all repatriations must be voluntary,” a US State Depart­ment statement read.

“I can’t say our discussions on this issue are over, but [the Cam­bodians] say they remain committed to the convention,” Wiede­mann said.

(Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse)

 

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